Bled Dry (Vegas Vampires #3)(30)
Author: Erin McCarthy

“There was an immediate attraction between us, do you know what I mean? Fireworks.” That was the whole truth.

They both nodded.

“Sure.”

“Oh, yeah. That’s how I felt when Sue used to bend over to pick up the onion rings. Like my pants were going to burn right off.”

“Exactement.” Corbin understood that feeling perfectly. “That is exactly how it was. And we both felt it. So we acted on it.”

“And… ” Travis pressed him.

“And I didn’t speak to her for eight weeks after.” Which sounded really unmannerly when he said it out loud.

“Dude.”

“Shit.”

Precisely. “She came to see me to tell me she was expecting our child. I was taken a bit by surprise, to say the least.”

“I f**king guess so.” Travis shook his head. “So you’re just trying to work it out with the kid? Good for you. It’s always good for the kid when the parents get along if they’re not together.”

“Well… the problem is I have complicated the matter. After she told me about the child, I, well, we slept together again. So I thought… but now she doesn’t seem to want to, well, anything, and I don’t know if we are together, or separate, or what exactly it is that she wants from me.”

Their expressions were almost comical, both their eyes and mouths twisted and contorted in sympathetic horror. Corbin felt better, just getting the words, his fears, out in the open. Maybe these men, who certainly had more experience with modern women than he did, would have some advice.

“You’re screwed,” Jason said.

Corbin frowned. “Well, what would you do if you were me?”

“Cry.” Travis grinned at him.

“Run,” Jason added, and they both laughed.

Not feeling too amused, Corbin took another sip of his drink, the bitter taste sliding over his tongue. “I want to work things out. It is very awkward the way it is now.”

“So talk to her,” Jason said. “But before you do that, you’ve got to know if you want to be with her or not. You do, you go in saying, ‘We should be together.’ If you don’t, you say, ‘Let’s just keep it as friends and focus on the kid.’ But you gotta be honest and you can’t play around.”

He did want to be with her. But Brittany had pulled back. Way back. And it was obviously still bothering her that he was a vampire. “I want to be with her, but I am not sure that is what she wants.”

“So ask her.” Jason turned back to the dancer on stage.

Corbin looked at Travis. “What do you think?”

“Don’t look at me.” Travis shrugged. “I don’t know dick about women. My wife, she’s a good woman, and she’s having my baby and everything, but sometimes I think we should have just been friends. There’s something missing, and I try to ignore it, but it’s there, man. That feeling like something ain’t right. I don’t know.” He drained his bottle of beer. “It’s like she’s my mother or something. It’s weird.”

That was weird. Way too weird for Corbin to even comment on. “Maybe it’s just that your relationship has changed because of the baby. She has a different focus now, other than you.”

Travis shrugged, and clapped him on the back. “We’re a couple of f**k-ups, aren’t we? Got good women and we’re screwing it up.”

“That is true.” Corbin sat up straighter. “Maybe we should go to our women, yes, and show them that we appreciate them.”

“I’m in.” Jason waved his hand at the stripper, who looked like she could drop into a nap at any time. “These chicks have nothing on my wife. Sue is beautiful.”

“Maybe you have a point.” Travis pulled some money out of his pocket and put it on the table. “Wouldn’t kill me to think about her feelings for a change. Shit, maybe I’ll even grab her some flowers on the way home.”

“Good plan.” Jason nodded before finishing his own beer.

Corbin was going to pass on the flowers. Brittany hadn’t seemed to appreciate his previous floral offerings. But he was going to find her and talk to her. Tell her how he felt. “I am going to go talk to Brittany.”

He was standing up when he sensed another vampire in the room. Turning, he scanned the room, and was surprised as hell to see Gregor Chechikov, moving up to the bar, cigarette in hand. “Excuse-moi , I see an acquaintance.”

“Catch you later.” Travis punched Corbin in the arm and gave him his business card.

Jason shook his hand. “We should do this again sometime.”

That actually pleased Corbin. He no longer had friends. It would be nice to have other men to talk to once in a while. Carrick and others in the current administration tolerated Corbin, but most vampires were suspicious of him. It made for a lonely existence. When they had all exchanged phone numbers and made plans to get together in a few weeks, Travis and Jason left and Corbin headed over to Gregor.

Corbin was still three feet away when Gregor said, “Atelier.” He turned. “How interesting to see you here,” he said in French.

“I could say the same for you, Chechikov. It was my understanding you were in St. Petersburg.” He moved in next to Gregor and leaned against the bar counter, curious. Gregor hadn’t left the continent in centuries, as far as Corbin knew. He was a big bear of a man, intimidating in both looks and nature, and had been a political associate of Vladimir of Kiev in the tenth century, involved in dealings with the Ottoman Empire. Once powerful in the Nation, richer than God, or at least Donald Trump, he had suddenly retreated from the political arena, before Corbin had even entered the world of the undead. Now Gregor stayed in St. Petersburg, quiet except for the money that he doled out to various causes and factions he supported, including Corbin’s own research.

Gregor gave him a slight smile. “I decided to venture out for the election.”

“The primary?” Corbin found it odd. Illogical. He did not like illogical. And he could have sworn Chechikov didn’t have a party affiliation.

“Yes, and then for the final election as well. It proves to be interesting, and I have never been to Las Vegas.”

Corbin realized that was the extent of the explanation he was going to get. “It is good to see you,” he said politely. Truthfully, he didn’t like Chechikov, and wasn’t really sure why not, but he had to play nice since it was Gregor’s rubles that funded his research. And with virtually no questions asked. Chechikov didn’t seem to care what Corbin was doing in the lab, though he had expressed mild interest in gene manipulation in one of their infrequent phone conversations.